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From 2008 Season
Rickey
Minor's American Idol
Band
Who
Are Those Guys?!?
However
you feel about "American Idol," I think you would have to be
really determined to make any kind of an argument against the musical
accompaniment of the "Rickey Minor Band." RAR is in awe of their
ability to deliver studio quality performance over a range of pop styles.
A little glimpse at who is in that band illuminates their expertise.
________
Two
seasons ago, American Idol started to get a little less a karaoke
competition, and a little more a cultural phenomena showcasing
musical-vocal performance. The show seemed to elevate a level or more, to
start to become something close to admirable in terms of a talent
showcase. That has put a different spin on the show. The name of the game for
the contestants, once the show moves into the final two stages,
is to show that they are legitimate enough talents to front the likes of
the band, which is a crème de la crème of big time pro players under the
direction of music director (MD) Rickey Minor.
RICKEY
MINOR (left) has been an established player in the recording
industry for three decades, but to many of its elite he is the MD of music
mogul Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy party, a gig he has been
orchestrating since 2000. In the past few years he has become a go-to MD
for network television shows, with music duties on "American
Idol," "Don't Forget the Lyrics!" and this year's Grammy
Awards.
Rickey
was a teen enrolled at UCLA when he got an opportunity to tour with Gladys
Knight and the Pips. How cool is that? Cool enough that he dropped out of
school, moving on to work with Lou Rawls, and then with the up and coming
Whitney Houston, with whom he went on to tour the world. Rickey Minor is
47 now and has worked with Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera and many
more.
Rickey
has been credited with AI's developing musical muscle, and it is quite a
music machine he has put together to support the kid singers. He has been
quoted as saying - "Some of the kids sound karaoke, but at least with
the live band, it gives them what the top professionals’ get." Sort
of gives you shivers, doesn't it? Rickey
Minor's Sites:
http://www.rickeyminor.com/
http://www.myspace.com/rickeyminor
 PAUL
JACKSON, JR. (left) is the lone guitarist in the band, but they
don't need another. He is perfectly able to portray the nuance in any
style of music, and do it flawlessly live. Did you see the two weeks of
Beatles songs? To a Beatle-head like RAR it was a joy to listen to and
watch. Paul Jackson established himself as a first-call L.A. session
player (he also plays bass and keyboards) in the 1970s and '80s, working
with the Temptations, Gerald Alston, Bobby Womack, Luther Vandross,
Patrice Rushen, Jacksons, The Pointer Sisters and many more. Like all the
members of the band, Paul Jackson is a composer. He has released solo
albums on Atlantic Records and released jazz offerings on Blue Note.
Paul Jackson's
Sites:
http://www.pauljacksonjr.com/
http://www.myspace.com/pauljacksonjrspace
 HERMAN
JACKSON (right) is a pianist, producer, arranger, musical
director and conductor. His credits include Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin,
Babyface, Frankie Beverly, Jessica Simpson and Dave Koz; television
performances backing Yolanda Adams on the Grammy Awards, Stevie Wonder on
the "Natural Wonder Tour" and CD, Rod Stewart on The Tonight
Show w/ Jay Leno, Whitney Houston's "Classic Whitney" HBO
special, Be Be Winans "Live and More," Ashford & Simpson on
Lou Rawls' "Parade of Stars," The Little Richard Story,
James Ingram on "Wedding of a Lifetime" and house keyboardist
for VH1's "Diva's Live." His compositions have been recorded by
the ubiquitous Norman Connors and Norman Brown, and he has played on
albums ranging from soul legends The Temptations, Gladys Knight and Stevie
Wonder, smooth jazz stars Kirk Whalum, Norman Brown and George Benson,
West Coast rap icons Too $hort and Tone Loc, and Record of the year Grammy
Winner Outkast. He recently completed writing and conducting the ABC
special "Nick and Jessica's Family Christmas." He has been MD
and Orchestra Conductor for the annual Colors of Christmas extravaganza,
featuring En Vogue, Marilyn McCoo, Peabo Bryson and James Ingram. Herman
Jackson's Sites:
www.hermanjackson.com/
http://www.myspace.com/hermanjackson
Dave
Delhomme (not pictured) is the other keyboard player and
he has worked with Patti Austin, Walter Beasley, Joe Sample, George Duke,
Al Jarreau, Dizzy Gillespie, David Sanborn, Lalah Hathaway, and Marcus
Miller. He works with the band Sneaky Jones, and he has toured with
Eric Clapton. Dave
Delhomme's Bio at:
www.whereseric.com/ecfaq/
biographies-other-musicians/dave-delhomme.html
Teddy
Campbell was MD and drummer for 98 Degrees and Britney
Spears while both were at the peaks of their careers. Teddy has recorded
with Al Jarreau, Rod Stewart, Sisqo, Kirk Whalum, Paul Jackson Jr., and
Kelly Clarkson. And he's toured with The Backstreet Boys, Christina
Aguilera, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, LSG (Gerald Levert, Keith Sweat,
Johnny Gill), and Bette Midler. And the drummer has also done TV
appearances with Ashanti, P-Diddy, Yolanda Adams, Shania Twain, Stevie
Wonder, Mariah Carey, and Natalie Cole. And he's been the drummer in the
house bands for The Image Awards, The Essence Awards, The American Music
Awards, The Billboard Awards, B.E.T.'s Celebration Of Gospel (hosted by
Steve Harvey), VH1 Disco Ball, VH1 Diva's Concert, and the VH1 Save The
Music Concert. He also fronts his own Gospel group, The Soul Seekers. Teddy
Campbell Info at: www.moderndrummer.com/updatefull/200001155
 KEVIN
RICARD is the percussionist and his recording credits include
Joe Zawinul, B.B. King, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Kadison, Everett Harp,
Kleber Jorge, Venice, Gloria Loring and numerous others. Kevin has also
performed on a number of movie scores including Speed, The Adams Family
Values, A Bugs Life and My Favorite Martian. He has played on releases by
Gerald Albright, Everett Harp, Shelby Lynne, Van Hunt, Yolanda Adams, and
Norman Brown. In January of this year, he joined the house band for the
Fourth Annual "BET Celebration of Gospel", and in February he
played on the pre-record for Beyonce’s Grammy Award performance of
"Dangerously in Love". He has toured with Patti Labelle, Gladys
Knight, Joss Stone, Cyndi Lauper, Jessica Simpson and Ashanti.
He is part of the house band for Clive
Davis’s annual pre-Grammy party and he does television underscore
("King of Queens," "BET Celebration of Gospel") and
house band work (VH-1 Divas Live"). Kevin
Ricard Info at: www.latinpercussion.com/Pros_That_Play_LP/Players_Roster/ricard.html
AMERICAN IDOL BACKUP
SINGERS
 'American
Idol' backup singers, from left,
Kenya C. Hathaway, Sharlotte Gibson and Sy Smith.
KENYA C. HATHAWAY
is the daughter of R&B legend Donny Hathaway and an aspiring
songwriter in her own right. Her pedigree is extraordinary, and her career
has been spent in good company including Johnny Mathis, Walter Beasley,
sister Lalah Hathaway, Eric Essix and Modern Man. Kenya
Hathaway Sites At: http://www.myspace.com/kenyacanclibrahathaway
www.kenyahathaway.com
Sharlotte
Gibson has been a backing vocalist for Whitney Houston,
Mariah Carey Luther Vandross, Patti Austin, Celine Dion, Al Green and
Snoop Dogg, among others. Her television credits include appearances with
Beyonce Knowles, Mary J. Blige, Berlin, Liz Phair and many others.
Sharlotte is a songwriter with an album, Half Plugged, available. Sharlotte
Gibson Sites: www.gigiinc.net/sharlotte.html
Sy
Smith began her career
fronting an all-female Washington, DC go go band. After graduating from
Howard University with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and a
minor in music therapy, she moved to Los Angeles, CA. She soon charted
territory singing backup for Usher, Eric Benet, Me'Shell NdegeOcello,
Ginuwine, Brandy, and spending more than a year on the road with Whitney
Houston. Among it all, Smith made appearances in GAP advertisements, as
well as being a regular fixture behind Vonda Shepard on the FOX television
show "Ally McBeal." Sy Smith also serves as the voice actor of
Aisha in the video game Saints Row. As Aisha, she recorded three tracks
for the game's soundtrack. SY SMITH Sites: www.sysmith.com
http://www.myspace.com/sysmith
_____________________________________
From March 2009 Edition
________________
IDOLS PREVIOUS...
Reprinted from April 2008 edition
Aussie
Hunk Surprise Oust From Idol
 
Los
Angeles, California - This season of American Idol has mostly left RAR
thinking about ringers, partly because of this dude on the left, Michael
Johns. A 29-year old Australian transplant to L.A. (he came when he
was 18), who plays locally (Viper Room), Johns and Irish import Carly
Smithson seem like the kind of ringers RAR suspects that AI producers
insure the show with. Who would produce a television show, with an
audience three times larger than the next most-watched show, on the
optimistic expectation that they will be able to find stars on the
streets? And how is it AI gets an Australian and an Irish person into the
competition?
Accepting
that American Idol is about as much a reality show as any of the others on
television, which is to say having little to do with real, RAR has watched
Michael Johns this season wondering how it was INXS didn't pick him up. On
the surface, he seems like a perfect face/voice combo to replace the
romantically tragic Michael Hutchence. And it's not like Johns was an
unknown entity. He has been showcasing for L.A. record labels since 2001.
Maverick Records plucked him out his Atlanta, George band Film and built a
new band, The Rising, around him. They produced an LP titled Future
Unknown, which must have been tongue firmly in cheek, because the
album was never released. Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, and
Arbitron, however, report that tracks from the unreleased LP received
national airplay, which is a nice trick.
Michael
Johns "package" of movie star looks, athletic build (he is a
former Australian rules football player for the Atlanta Kookaburras, who
attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia on a
tennis scholarship), and pleasing voice seemed too perfect even for AI's
reality. Maybe for their fans, too, who booted him off the island April
10th.
Finishing
better than 8th would have helped Michael Johns, but how much good fortune
does one man deserve? AI raised his profile in ways that only two or three
shows each week, for weeks, in front of a packed house of 33 million can
do. RAR is guessing that he'll be able to leverage the exposure. He is so
much of what Hollywoodland is all about.
Reprinted
from April 15, 2008 edition
But...it's
a singing contest
TJR
Protests American Idol Age Discrimination
 Fullerton,
California -- While most aspiring music
Indie
singer-songwriter TJR has recorded and released his musical ode to one of
America's favorite TV shows, and is giving it away for FREE via his
Myspace page ( www.myspace.com/tjr
).
The
song entitled simply "American Idol," tells the story of a
struggling musician who gets tired of people always asking him why he
doesn't audition for the show. Fed up with this question, The song's hero
musically responds:
"American
Idol discriminates against people of age
If you're over 29, you ain't getting on that stage"
"I
personally would never audition for the show, but I think that anyone who
is good enough, should be allowed to audition and compete," said TJR,
noting he has based the song on his own real-life experiences. "I
think it's wrong that they practice a discrimination against people of age
and I
also think it's not very American."
Dubbed
as the "acoustic version," TJR plans to have a more rocking
version of the same song available later in the year.
"The
decision to give away the song for free was an easy one," says the
artist. "I felt is was the easiest way to let people know the truth
about American Idol.....and to finally get people to stop asking me when I
am going to be on the show?"
-----------------RAR
Commentary-----------------
I
am sure a lot of people sympathize with TJR's frustration at
"American Idol" and its focus on teens and 20-somethings. And
their argument that AI is all wrong on judging talent pools may be
bolstered by what seems to me to be a remarkable improvement in the show
since they raised the maximum contestant age to 29 years, though probably
more valuable has been the inclusion of more "current" sounds,
as opposed to the karaoke of old Pop AM tunes that typified the
extraordinarily popular show in its first years. A key point, however, is
that the audience hasn't grown any with older performers and more modern
tunes - it was huge from the first, dwarfing everything else on television
by audience margins of 3 to 1, which seems to say that it is not the
particulars of the show that attract people, but the competition itself
with all of its human drama. The thing, I think, about TJR's complaint is
that it misses the central point - that "American Idol" is a singing
contest and the people who make the top 10 are talented and accomplished singers.
While it in no way diminishes the value of singer-songwriter types - a
mostly different animal from people who plot their course as pure
vocalists - guys like TJR would probably never make the first cut, and
certainly would never make it to the "Hollywood phase." Those
who get through can handle any song, whatever is thrown at them, either as
a featured or a backup singer. The percentage of people out there, even
among music pros, that can do that is extraordinarily small. Add in the
fact that the American Idol judges are not just looking for pitch-perfect
singers, which is a high enough bar to get over, but also for charismatic
front people, stars. Here again, that eliminates 99.9% of the
population (or more). The people who can go out in front of a television
audience of 33 million people, perform a song they may not be all that
familiar with, given the theme nature of AI's weekly programming, and do
it well enough to get people on their feet with appreciation and on the
phone, are extremely rare.
What "singer" doesn't watch AI and wonder if they are good
enough to compete with the contestants they see and hear along each phase
of the competition? (I have routinely weighed my own humble talents
against the talents of those I see on the show, and I have no delusions
about my competitive worth - I'd finish third. Joke!) And who
doesn't play clubs only to have some fawning, partially (or possibly
fully) inebriated patron come up between sets and suggest that they (the
performer) should be on "American Idol?" It has become
"Kleenex" and "Coke" and the other brand names that
have come to identify entire markets in a generic way. ("Honda"
had this supremacy when I was a kid. People would say, "I'm going to
get a Honda," meaning they were going to buy a motorcycle, Honda or
not.) Like it or not, "American Idol" has come to mean supreme
"music success" and it is what people know to talk about. MTV,
CMT and VH-1 music videos aren't really about music, and what casual fan
looks at the Billboard charts? "'You should be on American
Idol'" is what people can think to say.
Among the many cruelties of American Idol is this: it highlights the brief
window of youth, in all of its beauty and promise, which at the top age
range of 29 is already fragile. There simply is no mania for musical stars
past a certain point. The 30 and older folk who are stars trace their
success to their early youth, when they could strike the flint of desire
and elevate to some special plane on which they exist and, in some cases,
continue as icons, ironically an entirely other category of human. That's
really what "we" - those of us who imagine ourselves competing
successfully on American Idol - are imagining becoming: something from
another human category, where the rules of time and the physics of reality
do not apply.
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